Earlier this year, the German government outlined an ambitious plan to double the nation’s data-center fleet and to quadruple the compute capacity available for artificial-intelligence models by 2030. The strategy is intended to curb reliance on the United States for AI services and to stimulate a sluggish economy.
At the same time, EU members have pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 55 percent before the decade ends. Measures designed to meet that target are now colliding with Germany’s push for a data-center building surge, creating a policy tension between climate goals and AI-driven growth.
The 2023 Energy Efficiency Act, passed by the previous administration, mandated that all new data centres recycle a share of their waste heat, preferably feeding it into nearby municipal heating networks. Patrick Graichen, who was then a senior official at the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, described the requirement as a logical step before later resigning amid cronyism allegations.
In June, a month before the rules were to take effect, the federal government softened the mandate after data-center operators warned that the heat-reuse clause would make construction virtually impossible. The German Data Center Association labeled the original draft a “data centre prevention act.” The revised bill now obliges developers only to assess whether heat recycling is technically and economically viable, granting an exemption if it is not.
Within the last 18 months, multiple data-center proposals have fallen apart in Germany. Stack Infrastructure cancelled a $3 billion facility planned for Hesse, and the state-owned operator Komm.ONE pulled out of a project in Baden-Württemberg, explicitly attributing the decision to the obligations imposed by the Energy Efficiency Act. While the precise reasons for each abandonment are often opaque, Komm.ONE’s statement highlights regulatory pressure as a key obstacle.
Federal minister Katherina Reiche defended the amendment, saying it creates practical rules that support digital sovereignty and economic growth. Proponents argue that easing the heat-reuse requirement could revive pent-up demand, given Germany’s central location that facilitates efficient data routing across Europe. Nevertheless, local resistance persists; a small town council recently voted to block a $2.5 billion data-center project, citing climate concerns.